'Knight Rider' tractor, trailer reunited in Butler County

Many cars were used to portray KITT, the Knight Industries Two Thousand, on the television series “Knight Rider.”

Joe Huth of Butler County co-owns one of five that still exist.

But there was only one trailer used over the four seasons of the 1980s show as the Foundation for Law and Government’s mobile unit, the black-and-gold tractor-trailer that served as Michael Knight’s home away from home.

After searching for the trailer since 2005, Huth thought finding it would be impossible, and many believed it had been scrapped.

But thanks to an Arizona man who wasn’t interested in watching a Lifetime movie with his wife, the trailer has been found and reunited with one of the two tractors seen in the show.

“We were just dumbstruck that it was found,” said Huth of Clay Township, who is a member of the Knight Rider Historians group.

Huth said the group received an email Jan. 22 from a man in a Phoenix suburb saying he thought he had the trailer they were looking for. Rather than watch a movie with his wife, the man went to YouTube and happened to see a video that Knight Rider Historians had made about their hunt for it.

In February 2021, they released a video disclosing they owned one of the two tractors used for the mobile unit, a 1984 GMC General used in the third and fourth seasons, in hopes of shaking loose leads to the trailer.

Huth said they could tell from photos that it is the screen-used trailer. The visible studio modifications include bolts on its sides associated with the apparatus that would lower the door so KITT could be driven in and out.

Its serial number also matched one of two they believed could be the trailer used on the show.

Huth and a partner went to Arizona to see the trailer in April and confirm it in person.

“I was 99% sure it was the authentic trailer before ever seeing it, based on the photos the owner had sent me, but, when I finally flew down to Arizona and laid eyes on it, I felt a sense of ‘mission accomplished,’ as I had been looking for the trailer for over 15 years,” he said. “I also felt excitement, not just for me, but for all the fans of the show who would be so happy to know that the trailer was alive and well.”

The trailer, a 45-foot-long 1978 Dorsey, was made road-worthy and arrived June 7 at Huth’s home in Clay Township.

“It’s in remarkable shape for a trailer of its age,” he said. “Seeing it with the tractor was a really cool moment because those two parts were last together over 35 years ago on the other side of the country.”

Huth said the group learned the trailer had been used for storage for the past 11 years, and the owner was unaware of its Hollywood history. Before that, it was used to carry drag racing cars and a drag boat.

Like the 1984 General, the trailer is unrecognizable as being from “Knight Rider.” It was heavily modified over the years and painted white — which is noteworthy since it was white in its first appearances on the show before being painted black.

Huth is working to restore the tractor to its in-show appearance, including rebuilding the sleeper it once had, and plans to do the same with the trailer. He wants to build the interior seen in the show inside the trailer, which for the production had been on a set and not actually in the trailer.

In addition to expanding a fundraising effort on GoFundMe, which has raised about $6,500 from just over 100 donations toward a $40,000 goal, Huth said the group is looking for people interested in donating materials, equipment, supplies and skills toward the restoration effort.

“Now that we have the whole thing, we hope people will see our vision and help us,” he said. “This is tens and tens of thousands of dollars of restoration.”

Once the tractor-trailer is restored, Huth said, the group plans to take it and one of their cars to shows so people can see them.